British English v American English

18 March 2019/

There’s a saying, attributed to various sources, that Britain and America are two countries divided by a common language. Regardless of the source, it’s certainly true that they’re divided by certain spellings!

For those of you who’ve read one or more of my Club Aegis books and then gone on to read Charity’s Heart (Spectrum Security Inc. #1), you may have noticed that the Club Aegis books are written in British English, but Charity’s Heart is written in American English, as will the books yet to be written in the series.

You may be wondering why. I am more than happy to explain.

The Club Aegis books feature predominantly British characters, usually in British locations which is why I’ve used British English.

I wrote the Charity’s Heart in American English—much to my American editor’s relief—because those books will be predominantly set in the US, and the majority of the characters will be American. One of the main characters will usually be British, due to their connection with Spectrum Security, although I would add the caveat that this series is in the very early stages, so at some point, it’s possible that my muse may throw me a curve ball. Anyway, my British characters will have British English speech patterns in dialogue, but spellings will be in American English, due to the locations used in the books, and the circumstances of their being published.

I’ve set these books in America because the Spectrum Security series is published by Aces Press, a publishing venture based in the US and created by author Susan Stoker. It’s part of Susan’s Special Forces: Operation Alpha world of fan fiction, where she’s invited other authors to write in the worlds of her series, using her characters. If you take a look at the website for Aces Press, you’ll find loads of great books by wonderful authors. And if you haven’t discovered Susan’s books yet, you can find out more about them on her website.

At the moment, I’m not sure how many books there’ll be in the Spectrum Security Inc. series. Looking back, when I wrote the first Club Aegis book, I had no idea that would even be a series. All I can say for now is that I have plans for Spectrum Security Inc. so watch this space! If you’re really interested, you can sign up for my newsletter—there’s a link to the right of this page—and I promise I won’t pass your email address on, or inundate you with emails.

So, there’s only one thing left to say, and that’s thank you, for your interest and your support. It means a massive amount to me.